Well… things are going to change.

I had my MRI on my knee. I had a PT session. Bottom line: no tears or anything really bad. Basically I’ve lost a decent amount of cartilage, and now I’m inflaming the hell out of it. Why? Looks like muscle imbalances have really pulled my knee caps off track, so they’re not moving “in the groove” of the joint and everything’s grinding. It’s been years in the making, and just happens to be coming to a head now.

The PT session looked at a few things, considered my situation, goals, etc. and saw what wasn’t working on me. Basically I’ve really strengthened particular muscles from all the squats and deadlifts, but other antagonists didn’t get the same treatment — thus the pulling. So, the first pass at this is to give me a bunch of exercises to do to try to correct that. I will do these every day and see how it goes. If my condition improves, great; keep doing the exercises for the rest of my life. 😉 If it doesn’t improve, then we’ll revisit.

So, there are the daily exercises. On gym days, I’ll do them as a part of my warmup. On my off-days, I’ll just do them at home.

But then, there’s gym work.

It has to change.

I’m still not 100% settled on what that change will be. But I know a few things. I don’t see upper body work (bench day, press day) changing at all. Squat and deadlift days will change. I will still squat and still deadlift as I do for main work. All other work changes to help support, strengthen, and bring up these obvious weak points. Trouble is, I’m not 100% sure exactly what will work — and can be done with the equipment/facilities I have available.

For example, a hack squat machine would be awesome, but the gym doesn’t have one. So what to do?

Anyways, today I tried some simple things: single-leg leg presses (which is actually something the PT suggested, tho they had a hack-squat-like machine — I had to use a leg press), single-leg extensions.

I think the single less presses are going to be good. I start slow and light and will work my way up — this is certainly more about quality of the movement.

Leg extensions? Not sure. I felt more irritation in the knees during this, so it may not work well for me. Not sure yet.

That said, I think what may come next week is a different approach. Maybe something like front squats with a very light weight and maybe heels up, so I can keep my torso as upright as possible and really hit the VMO — but still heavy enough that I’m hitting that 5-10 rep range (tho I’m sure I’ll have to work to that regardless). Then follow with the 1-leg leg presses for up to maybe 20 reps each leg.

Then deadlift day. What just hit me, as I was writing this, is I may try barbell hack squats for my supplemental, then let my assistance work be for other things like hams and glutes. TBD.

Anyways — point is that things are going to have to change, but it’s all good. It’ll be some experimentation to get me there.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 230 x 5
  • 260 x 5
  • 295 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked, but 15 reps each
• 1-Leg Leg Press (superset with front plate raises)
  • empty sled x 10e
  • empty sled x 10e
  • empty sled x 10e
  • empty sled x 10e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
• 1-Leg Leg Extensions
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 12

Today’s a little different.

Last night I went to see Slayer (with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, and Testament). Tired from the show, only a few hours of sleep, so I didn’t really feel like doing a hard session — no need to dig my recovery hole too deep. I was thinking to “jack shit” the session, but that I’d see how it went.

I had a second thought: try sumo.

I am not really built for sumo, but I’ve done it before for a change. I wanted to see how my knees took to it. So I decided my BBB sets would be pulled sumo (work sets were conventional). Also, I wouldn’t really work it — just enough reps so I could get a feel for the movement. This wasn’t about actually getting in reps or work, but more about exploring the movement relative to my knees and other issues.

It wasn’t bad, but I’m not sure. I could only get so far down. Was it flexibility? Familiarity? Stability? Knees hitting “about that critical angle”? Maybe a little of all. So there was a bit more back-raise than there probably should be, but overall things weren’t too bad. Hard to say if it’d be worth considering – but as I start PT for my knees, I’ll talk with the therapist about it.

Anyways, I took it kinda easy today. Did the work, got out.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Deadlift
  • 175 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 260 x 3
  • 285 x 5
  • 325 x 5
  • 370 x 5
• Band Pullaparts (superset with deadlift warmups and work)
  • Not tracked, but 15 reps per set.
• Sumo Deadlift (for BBB)
  • 225 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 225 x 5
• Upright rows (superset with BBB sets)
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 11
  • 105 x 10

Then 13 minutes on the bike

Today was good. I really missed pressing so I’m glad to be back at it.

It also feels like pressing is going to be good to my shoulders and upper back, regarding my pain issues. I do have to be mindful — I can’t ego lift here, I have to ensure head through and that the shoulders shrug a bit at the top. But precisely that is what should be helping me out (vs. say a press with a nice layback that’s basically like an upright incline (bench) press).

I admit some confidence issues here. I haven’t lifted heavy in too long. I haven’t pressed in ages. When I started the 5’s PRO I felt the 5’s might be too much come the 3rd (1+) week. On paper it worked: if I can 1RM 195, 5 repping 165 should be cake. Sure enough it was, but still… I had confidence issues. Which is also kinda silly because what’s the worst? I miss. But that’s also the thing: I shouldn’t miss, especially this first cycle — everything should be easy. Mostly if I did fail it would be pointing to not starting out correctly. But hey, so far so good!

I didn’t do split squats today. My MRI for my knees is later today, so why push it.

I continue to enjoy lying triceps extensions, with my head off the bench and the bar going back behind my head — great stretch, and it feels really good.

Anyways – first cycle of getting back to heavier lifting and 5/3/1-based methodologies down. Next week starts the 2nd part of the 6-week cycle: squat and deadlift go up 10#, press & bench press go up 5#, but everything else remains in terms of exercises and approach (still 5’s PRO and all that). I will say that depending on how the knee stuff goes with the doctor, I might wind up changing a little bit; we’ll see. But the plan is to stay the course.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 5 (was in a nice groove, kept going for 2 more reps)
  • 130 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 130 x 12
  • 130 x 12
  • 130 x 12
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 10
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 15
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 9

Pretty good day.

Benching went well. I am going into these heavier sessions with some trepidation, and I realized why: past injury. Whenever I’ve gotten to heavier weights, it’s when injury or things like the arm pain set in. So I’m a little wary: will the pain come back? since it’s a shoulder issue, am I risking a different (and worse) injury, especially if I don’t keep tight (as I’ve realized doing that – the crush grip – really helps mitigate things)? It’s not that I can’t move the weight, it’s just the fear of injury again.

It’ll be interesting in the coming weeks: next cycle, weights go up; cycle after that, weights go up and start to touch more so in places I’ve not been before. It’s actually exciting, and yeah… a little fear of the weights is good, especially when you overcome.

Anyways, benching was fine. Focusing on the crush grip does really help, and I was much better about maintaining that throughout the rep, as I’ve had a habit of loosening up during the descent. During the BBB sets I really worked on tucking the elbows and better drive out.

I did NOT lunge today; I’ll come back to that.

Everything else was just everything else. Reasonable assistance work.

I saw the orthopedic doc yesterday about my knees. Cursory examination looks like it may be a knee cartilage issue. No immediate signs of things like a tear or other worse problems, which is good. I’ll be getting an MRI in a few days to get a better picture of things, and then we’ll go from there.

One thing doc suggested I do between now and then is spend 20-30 minutes/day on a spin bike. So ok, I started that today. Only did 10 minutes, because the lower quads started to feel it. Interesting sensation, as normal stationary bikes don’t hit me like that, but I guess the angle in the spin bike… Anyways, I’ll work up to it. We’ll see how this fares for me.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 100 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 190 x 5
  • 215 x 5
  • 240 x 5
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 23e
• Pushdowns
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 20
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 9

That was painful. 🙂

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how today would go. Scheduled for a top set of 5 reps @ 300 lb, and honestly I wasn’t sure about it. In recent times I did do 295 for reps, and this is more. Of course on paper there was every reason for me to hit it — my actual 1RM, the fact the 295 was “a cycle ago” so the small increment should work out just fine, etc. So there’s no reason for me to have doubted.

But I did — because of my knee.

Today I’ll be seeing an orthopedic doc about it to start to figure out what’s going on.

That said tho, the squats themselves went pretty well. I’m thinking about changing how I squat tho: turning around. I think facing the mirrors is causing me to well… to look at them more than I should. I’m wanting to check form, check depth, etc., when I really need to just squat. I squat facing the mirror because of spacing issues, but maybe who knows — maybe I should just close my eyes. I’ll see.

BBB sets – gah. Slay me. It’s a deceptive amount of work. 🙂 I am happy with my appproach tho (taking a cue from my RP experiences) of incrementing the work over time. It’s 5/3/1-philosophy-consistent tho: start light. Since it’s a 6-week run, first 2 weeks get 3 sets, second 2 get 4, third 2 get 5 sets.

And what really gets me is the supersetting. No the front plate raises aren’t killer, but what it does is adds to the exhaustion. The torso and everything is already tired from the squats, then you need the torso for all this stability. Couple that with breathing heavy and well, it adds up. But I am happy to stick with it, because I do feel my work capacity is increasing here.

Anyways, things are as they are.

We’ll see what the doc says today.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 125 x 5
  • 155 x 5
  • 190 x 3
  • 235 x 5
  • 270 x 5
  • 300 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked
• Squat (superset with front plate raises)
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
  • 155 x 10
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 13
  • 25 x 12
• Leg Extensions
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
  • 75 x 12
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12